The latest Consumer Loyalty Engagement Index release shows that Apple lost out to its major competitor, Samsung, in consumer loyalty over 2012. In-fact, the data – collected by research consultancy Brand Keys – shows that Samsung did as well as to top consumer loyalty for most of the areas of electronics that it is involved in.

President of Brand Keys Robert Passikoff said this about the data:

“This is the first year that Samsung beat out Apple in smartphones. When Apple was number one, everyone said, ‘Well sure, it’s Apple.’ But the fact is that Samsung always had a larger share of the marketplace.”

However, while Samsung’s devices bested the iPhone in the smartphone market, the Korean company tied with Apple in the laptop industry.

The survey was conducted by taking results from nearly 40,000 people across the US. While this is a relatively small sample size compared to the population of the country, Passikoff says that his company is 95% sure that its results are accurate., as there is a “significant difference” between the number 1 and 2 spot.

Apple wasn’t only beaten by Samsung though, as Amazon also took over as king of the e-reader category, however, this is because the iPad was not considered by consumers to be such a device, as Passikoff explains:

“When we initially added the category, iPad never showed up. And then later it did… its primary product value is not as an e-reader. But we don’t define what products go in which categories. Consumers do.”

But it wasn’t just the e-reader category in which Amazon came out on top, as Apple was also beaten in the dedicated tablets bracket, landing a #2 spot alongside Samsung.

PhoneDog is one of the largest and most popular interactive mobile news and reviews resource that attracts a community of more than 2.5 million unique visitors each month. The site may have a "cute" name, but it offers up serious editorial content and video reviews that users rely on to make important decisions about their next mobile purchases.